Brad here. Besides being an economics geek, I am and always have been a science and space geek. As a human, I regard the growing presence of private enterprise in space as a significant breakthrough. As an investor, I’m more than excited by the opportunities presented by exploring space. On the other hand, as a cynic, I’m also very aware of the risks and concerns associated with expanding our boundaries. Tom Ryan of Commonwealth’s Investment Management and Research department does a terrific job outlining the real opportunities, as well as the risks, of investing in the final frontier. Thanks, Tom—ad astra!

Brad here. One of the things we try to do as investors is see into the future. To some extent, we can—but not as much as we wish and often not as far as we think. In today’s post, Brian Glazer, a senior investment consultant here at Commonwealth, takes a look at how to keep those expectations under control.

Last week’s economic updates came in mixed, with solid reports on retail sales and consumer confidence offsetting a modest uptick in inflation and disappointing industrial production results. Given the importance of consumer spending to the overall economy, the positive reports represent a good tailwind for economic growth to start the year. This week, the focus will be primarily on housing-related updates, with forecasts for continued year-over-year growth in this important sector of the economy.

This morning, I stopped to get a card and balloon for my son for Valentine’s Day. I was shocked—once again—at how much the greeting card companies have monetized our need to be loving parents, spouses, and so forth. With these kinds of prices, you would think retail spending would have soared last month. Think again.

My colleague Sam Millette, senior investment research analyst on Commonwealth’s Investment Management and Research team, has helped me put together this month’s Market Risk Update. Thanks for the assist, Sam!

My colleague Sam Millette, senior investment research analyst on Commonwealth’s Investment Management and Research team, has helped me put together this month’s Economic Risk Factor Update. Thanks for the assist, Sam!

January was a tough month. We started with a U.S. attack on an Iranian general (creating thoughts of war) and ended with the possibility of a new global pandemic (with the Wuhan coronavirus spreading around the world). In between, of course, we had the impeachment spectacle here in the U.S., as well as the British exit from the European Union. All in all, it was quite a difficult month from a news perspective. Which made it somewhat odd that markets were not hit harder than they were.

Last week, two major measures of business confidence and January’s jobs report came in better than anticipated, as did most of the other economic updates. This week will be another busy one for reports, with the focus on consumer prices, spending, and confidence.

Brad here. Today, I’m pleased to introduce a post by Andrew Kitchings, a portfolio manager with Commonwealth’s Investment Management and Research team. Enjoy!

Tomorrow, we get the big one, the most (in my opinion) significant economic report of all: the jobs report. So, what should we expect?